Paula Sandoval is the first place finisher by a safe margin, although she did not capture a majority of the vote. Sandoval had the backing of much of the local political establishment and relatively fat warchests.

The election was for the one year term until May 2011 when the seat will be contested again as part of the regular municipal elections. The vacancy was created when Rick Garcia resigned to take a job as a regional director in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Denver's municipal government officers are officially non-partisan. Both Sandoval and Frangas have held partisan elected offices as Democrats in Colorado, and Shepherd's background was as a union employee. John Haney had endorsement from two police officer's unions and made headlines by providing stamps to prospective mail in voters, a controversial move that was found not to constitute an illegal monetary encouragement to vote for him.

Sandavol's seat in the Colorado Senate (SD 34) will be filled by a Democratic party vacancy committee on May 16 at SEIU Local 105 at 2525 W. Alameda Ave. in Denver, starting at 1 p.m. The vacancy committee includes Precinct Committee Persons, Senate District Officers, House District Officers, Sub-district Officers, Democratic elected officials, and party officials, including Democratic National Committee, Colorado Democratic Party, and Democratic Party of Denver officials who live in SD 34. This is after the conclusion of the 2010 legislative session which is now in its final days.